A Blue Is Born

Reminds me of a call I had from my grandfather (Edward "Ted" Mitchell for those who knew him) before my first daughter was born... and he said to my wife "Congrats my love, I hear you are having an Evertonian", and she replied "We don't know if its a boy or a girl, Ted", and he replied "Who cares, they will be an Evertonian, and its an honour to be born one!".

He passed some years ago, and my daughter's favourite photo is of her, him and me all in our kits and she was 6 months old.

We popped back from Australia to the UK a couple of months ago, and she was delighted to visit Goodison and buy the new pink kit. Her passion for football comes from Ted and the Skype calls he made to her before passing. She loves playing (plays for Chatswood U16 Girls) and always trains in an Everton shirt.

I hope your son continues to discover and learn more about this famous club, and that we can deliver him and my daughter joy in the coming years.

My two grandsons, aged 8 and 6, made their derby debuts on Saturday. I was thinking after the match what I would have given for Coady’s goal to have been allowed, and for the lads to have had the rare but magnificent experience of Goodison bouncing to a victory over the rs.

However, having reflected since, that is not our lot. Our triumphs do not come so readily, and frustration and sometimes injustice are part and parcel of supporting our team. We may have had too much of such emotion over the years, but it is character-forming, and ensures there is no sense of entitlement amongst the youngsters. It breeds true loyalty.

It sounds like you are training young Zac well, the poor little fella! Get him over here while The Old Lady is still standing.

Can I jump on your thread to mention another young blue whose Everton-themed funeral is tomorrow. Connor Oman leaves a fiancée and a 9-week-old son.

I know times are hard but any blue who can donate, however small an amount to help his family would be appreciated. His story and funding page can be found here.

In memory of Connor Oman

Anyone with more IT skills than me who can get this page into the general Everton cybersphere would also be appreciated.

It looks like you have succeeded where I have failed. I have two boys and neither one is a football fan which makes me a little sad. I would love it if my boys were watching the games with me, so make sure you soak up every minute of it. I'll keep my fingers crossed that you get to Goodison with your son before it is gone.

My Son is a Red Man - he has two sons 14 & 9 proud to say that they are both ardent Evertonians. In fact the little one claims that he is the only Toffee in his school (not class) but he proudly wears his Everton strip when allowed in class.

The wife, well she says she's a Chelsea fan, but I never really gave her much credence anyway!!

My daughter is a blue, her first game was also my dads last (strange how life does things like that). It was the 2-0 victory over Chelsea in the FA Cup quarters when Rom scored that fantastic solo goal.

Coming out of the ground I asked my dad if he enjoyed it, yes son he said thanks for the birthday present. About 10 mins later he asked me what was the score!

I have a dog, Max (Springer) and he supports us too but not so keen on me jumping about if we are on the telly. Perhaps he has been having me on?

Best to you and your boy. You've done well. He will forever understand the concept of loyalty, fealty to purpose, and when the trophies finally come they will be hard earned and cherished.

There's something important about all of that, and it'll translate in life for him in my opinion.

Great article. His next Christmas present has to be an Everton jersey with Jagielka on the back, surely?

My son spent his first 6 years in Liverpool. His first match at Goodsion was in August 1998 against Aston Villa. Very apt as my wife attended with us. He was a couple of months short of his 4th Birthday. It was a 0 - 0 draw and we were sat in the first row of the Enclosure right in the corner with the Park End.

My abiding memory of that match was taking my eye him for 10 seconds only to see he had made his way up the steps in the corner and about to encroach on the field of play during the warm up. A kind steward ushered him back to us. I think he fancied his chances of starting!

I can relate to the challenges of bringing a son up to follow his birthright amidst the grass is greener influences in different places.

We moved around, spending time in Italy and Northern Ireland before eventually settling the family in west London. Here it's always been a smattering of Chelsea, Tottenham and Arsenal alongside the inevitable presence of "life long" United and Liverpool fans. The latter who I often can tell them more about their club than they can. I take no pride in that. I just grew up with friends and cousins who took to the dark side. It would have been easy for him to have been swayed, but he's always been loyal to his roots.

My sister married a Red. They have 3 boys. 2 red, one Blue. He more than holds his own. My immediate family are all blue, aside from the West Midland influence on the in-laws side, but even some of the are Liverpool supporters.

There's no going back for your lad. There never was. And when we win something soon, it will be worth the wait and mean that much more to him than to those who have no connection with their club.

Birthright.

Forever.

I have a 6-year-old lad. I am 100 miles from Goodison Park so no great challenge to get him to a game. I have been worried I would be handing him the fabled poisoned chalice rather than doing him a favour as personally.

I have found being an Evertonian a very miserable and saddening experience for more years than I care to admit. False dawn after false dawn.

May the improved performance and character shown in the derby performance be a real turning point this time. 100 percent effort and application in each game is not too much to ask, is it? Every game, every time, irrespective of the score.

How on earth did you stop Zac from following the All-Blacks? My two boys were born in the '60s, and though my No 1 son had the good sense to support the Toffees, my Dark Side wife sneakily had No 2 son follow her poor tastes.

In the '90s, we ended up with 3 grandsons and I guess it became a Merseyside derby draw with the 3rd grandson, following the oval ball game and representing Australia Universities in International Rugby (I've never understood that weird game).

But no matter who our off-spring support – it is good that they show an interest. My daughter for instance follows the fortunes of Wigan Athletic, purely because in the "olden days" her grandfather played for Wigan Borough before he transferred to Everton! Go Figure!!!

Hope you keep Zac on the true path, Jamie, and the club repays him (and us) with many honours.

My dad took me to my first game when I was 6 and of course I was hooked, despite the shit I got pretty much every Monday morning at school from fans of that other team in our beloved city.

It sounds like there could be a need for some sort of support group or counselling service to be made available to those with reds in their family!

Bernie, if the reds at Zac's school have done one good thing, it has been to keep him engaged in football, including playing every break time. Rugby hasn't even had a look in thankfully, and I intend to keep it that way!

My little girl never became a football fan or die-hard Evertonian like all of us, but one thing I have preached (or brainwashed) to her since she can talk is that she can date and marry anyone as long as her eventual better half is not a Red Shite!

That's why I have so much respect for the younger generation of blues.

Its easy to just support the dark side and enjoy the spoils, these young blues have the dedication and loyalty without much reward, yet goodison is full of young blues singing there hearts out week in week out.

It reminds me of my nephews struggle with the temptation of the other side.

He come in to my brother and I, near in tears as he knew the magnitude of what he was saying. " I might support Liverpool, they always win stuff " we were both shocked, but rather than pack his bags and change his birth certificate. We reasoned with him, talked about the past teams, the years when we were the superior team in this city, the history and stories of us going the game.

We watched clips of goodison before all seater stadiums, the great escapes of the 90s, the title winning teams of the 80s and the scenes on the streets when we brought that FA cup back in 95.

But wil still let him decide.

He chose the righteous path. I'm proud to say he was a regular at the match visiting Wembley with the blues.

Last couple of years my own son went through his own battle with the demons. I'm happy to say they were blown away when we watched the Palace game last year and the scenes at the end.

His face beamed as he watched the scenes and I nearly cried as he said " thats when we beat relagation! Imagine if we won the league "

Hes hooked now too .

I just hope the younger generation can get the rewards for their commitment to our club .

Sky will be in shock.

Spit the phone stealing dog will faint.

The blue boys are on the rise. The tide is coming into Bramley-Moore Dock.